Song Contest - BOTB 5! (Results are in!)

[Porochaz]

There's a missing lyric in my submission, shit, I may change the link.

EDIT: It's a weird line to cut, not sure why. This is the full song, don't think the missing line impacts it so no need to swap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATfUdaZQLMA

[TheWayItEnds]

it kinda does.

that transition is so jarring without that line.

[toolenduso]

I replaced it in the playlist. Might as well have the right one.

[inte]

can i put this out there:

https://soundcloud.com/macoos1337/thomas-the-bonfire

[Pala]

Can't get to this by deadline. My hometown (Chennai) where I'm at right now has seen the worst flooding in a hundred years so with all the chaos around this is kinda the last thing on my mind. Sorry. I guess this means I get cut from the next contest but that's ok because I probably won't be back for it anyway.

[toolenduso]

I hope it clears out soon, and I hope family/friends of yours aren't hit too hard.

[Porochaz]

it kinda does.

that transition is so jarring without that line.

Fair enough, I didn't realise the line had been cut,

quadz, if possible, can you swap the link?

[toolenduso]

Ryn Weaver/Zella Day/Meg Myers/Lana Del Rey

[inte]

Can't get to this by deadline. My hometown (Chennai) where I'm at right now has seen the worst flooding in a hundred years so with all the chaos around this is kinda the last thing on my mind. Sorry. I guess this means I get cut from the next contest but that's ok because I probably won't be back for it anyway.

stay safe

[quadz08]

^ what inte said

[Parama]

i guess i should do this

[elusive]

Ryn Weaver/Zella Day/Meg Myers/Lana Del Rey

that was a list of my soul

also cool

[Parama]

Mali – Alright, I can dig her voice + this music. Nice atmosphere, the drums keep things upbeat, and she’s a decent though not especially unique singer. But yeah she doesn’t really seem to have much personality as a singer, though she sings alright. The music is doing most of the work here. Constantly changing up while keeping a steady atmosphere.

St. Lucia – Man, I’m not a huge fan of how breathy her voice is. In contrast to the previous song though she has plenty of personality, at least. Lyrics are quite repetitive, it seems. And agh I don’t like any element of the post-chorus, not the bass, not the drums, definitely not the bubble sounds. The music’s alright overall though. Pretty chill sound. Yeah okay lyrics this repetitive are just a pet peeve but.

Belarus – That’s not even correct grammar. Jeez dude. I really don’t have much to say about this, he has a decent voice and the music’s alright without being anything too special. That stock “YAY” sound effect is kinda meh because I’ve heard it too many times. There’s some nice swell to this at points.

Hungary – Okay, this starts off a little meh but after the 1 minute mark it gets pretty cool for a bit. The louder parts of this are definitely the better parts but the singer does a pretty great job here especially. Yeah, I can dig this.

France – These guys had a song in rock band I think? I remember it being alright but nothing that special. This, on the other hand, is simply something I don’t care about. Synthpop. Not my thing. Vocals drowned in as many effects as possible to try and sound robotic. Nah. There’s just no emotional core to this kind of stuff at all, it’s dance-y music which I have no use for. It’s alright for what it is though?

Gabon – I’m listening to this and just getting no reaction from it. The vocals are unique enough to stand out but good enough to not be standing out in a bad way. The instrumentation is decent and has swell at the right moments, gets pretty full for the chorus. It’s vaguely pleasant, but nothing new on any front and not something I imagine I’ll care to return to. It mostly just comes off as generic, aside from the vocals.

Scotland – This is the point in the set where I’m generally bored and underwhelmed by what I’m hearing so this song gets to be the one to really suffer for it. Which is a shame, this song has some real power behind it at the chorus and her vocals get pretty intense. The quieter bits probably let this down a bit though.

Italy – I was sent Slow Show from these guys fairly recently, which was… ehh… okay. The singer’s voice was the most interesting part there and probably the most interesting part here too. This takes a while to get started though but once it does I like it a fair bit, the drums add a lot. Really help make the song sound full. Of course less than half the song is the good part of the song, everything up until then just being kinda dull.

[elusive]

I didn't submit anything this time since I was Away but this contest has a lot of good stuff.

[Parama]

Qatar – The drums are the only thing that sound like they have a pulse here, but that mostly just makes them feel out of place. Big booming snare while everything else is so low-key. It’s alright at building atmosphere, though. Not a fan of her voice, it’s lacking in any real personality. Also it’s funny that the youtube comments are comparing this to Lana Del Ray, considering that…

Portugal – …this is the next song on my randomized list. Uuhh it sounds like she’s singing a little bit offbeat, at least in this first verse. I like her voice slightly more, but it’s still kind of lacking in personality too. And… I really don’t think it fits with the music, which is… pretty decent, actually. I’m kind of biased towards the strings, though. But yeah. It doesn’t really feel like it quite adds up, but this is alright. But yeah she really is not quite singing on the beat which does bother me.

Burkina Faso – I mean, this does have a bit of flavor in it, a bit of nonstandard instrumentation going on and the electric guitar at parts adds a bit of crunch to the song. Her voice is nice, too. It doesn’t really do a ton with what it has, though. If it focused more on the nonstandard instrumentation than the rest then this would actually be pretty enjoyable, really. As it stands it’s mildly pleasant but a bit forgettable.

Spain – Okay, I’m really kinda regretting getting the Esben and the Witch album over this one. I still need to pick this album up. This isn’t as chaotic as Black Eunuch but it’s just as good, fantastic build up at the start to the first chorus and damn can that guy sing. Unsurprisingly this easily rockets into high consideration for my 12.

Chile – It’s impressive how much nothing this is doing for me. Instrumentation driven almost entirely by the drums with some bass and small touches thrown in just doesn’t work for me. His voice is decent but it gets kind of overpowered by the drums, which just shouldn’t happen. Bleh.

Wales – Immediately I go “oh god another swingy song” but this doesn’t just play it straight so it’s actually pretty alright. Actually quite like how high the bass is mixed here, and I like the half-time feel of the chorus. Also I think there are horns in the background somewhere but I’m not quite sure they’re horns? Okay that’s definitely a synth though, after the second chorus. Yeah, this is fun enough.

Western Sahara – Woooow you couldn’t pile more effects on the vocals here, it’s really quite grating. Doesn’t help that for the first minute or so there’s basically nothing else going on, either. I get the impression I wouldn’t like her vocals even without the effects, though. Oh yeah uhh I guess the instrumentation is actually pretty solid throughout but if I have to suffer through these vocals just to listen to it than I think I’d rather not.

Ecuador – Hmm. A little bothered by his voice, actually. This is fairly decent alt-rock, the strings are about the only thing really standing out though. Yeah, definitely was expecting a little bit more. this is alright and I might like it more on a second listen but it’s not doing a lot for me right now.

[Bins]

Decided to listen to some stuff while studying for finals. Might vote, I don't know. I sort of just held my paste button down for the ♥s and rough guessed for each one. Not even sure what the scale is even "out of.

Mew - Comforting Sounds

(Iceland)

— Slow at first, but I digged what it became. I think I was extra patient with it because I was studying and I really liked it in the end. I'm usually a bitch with slow music, but this had a really nice vibe. I guess you could say the sounds were

comforting.

Okay, I'm done. Bye. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Patent Pending - Let Go

(USA)

—  Giving me 8th grade Bins vibes with his voice, holy crap. Bulge is always like "You like guys with whiny voices", and I can hear that in this like crazy. But hm, I really like the upbeat-ness and the whole catchiness of it and at parts I can forget the voice. There's was one part of it I really liked and they had a lot of mesh-y stuff going on that worked well. ♥♥♥♥

Venetian Snares - Abomination Street

(Fiji)

— I can dig mash-ups and sound like this. Sometimes. Eh. They would never be something I would listen to. I wouldn't even put them on a "While Driving" playlist. This... just sounded like a lot of snares. Okay, that's the point, but I'm getting to the point where I have a hard time listening to this as "music" but rather just "sounds that sometimes sound okay together." And there are things like this that are nice, but this was just everywhere. I heard elements but they were lost half the time. End was cool but I think I was happy the noise stopped. ♥

San Cisco - Fred Astaire

(Wales)

— I love this. This deserves a better comment, just, see above and take all the good things I said about the other ones and put that together. Good beat, I would definitely listen to this, and it's just nice. Okay? Okay. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

The National - Fake Empire

(Italy)

— This is good. Yes. ♥♥♥♥♥♥

Woodkid - The Golden Age

(Uruguay)

— As someone who has never done Song Contest before, but has heard that some people are sick of Woodkid, I liked it. But it didn't strike me as that special. I feel like it could be. To someone. One of those songs. But personally for me, I wasn't moved by it. Musically, however, I feel that it was beautiful in many places, the violin (I HAVE NO IDEA IF IT IS A VIOLIN) was perfect. I didn't watch the video, I think that was slightly my problem, because it does seem to have a visual story that important as well. I really liked the end when it picked up again, though. ♥♥♥♥♥

Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus

(Madagascar)

— Another song that isn't bad, and I can appreciate it, but it just isn't moving me any way. Was waiting for something. Didn't come. ♥♥♥

Esti Kornél - Akkor hagylak el

(Hungary)

— I don't understand it but I like it enough. The voice is nice regardless. Musically I wish there was more elements, but it wasn't bad, so decent. I'm too reliant on lyrics, sigh me. ♥♥♥♥♥

Biffy Clyro - Know Your Quarry

(Ecuador)

— Hmm, I can dig this. His voice bugged me, but overall it's pretty average. I like the chorus with the element there in the beat. ♥♥♥

The Vincent Black Shadow - This Road Is Going Nowhere

(Cote d'Ivoire)

— Hmmmm? Started strong, but I got kind of bored with it. Which surprised me, but I don't know. ♥♥♥

XYLO - America

(Qatar)

— Yeah, I like this. Dropped off at a point, but overall not bad. ♥♥♥♥♥

Arthur Beatrice - Who Returned

(Mali)

— I liked this, especially after it picked up. Wanted a little more, but was happy. ♥♥♥♥♥♥

I'm excited to get through this, see a lot of names I recognize after this point. And I realize I skipped Spain, oops.

[Parama]

please do not skip spain

also thank you bins

[Bicephalous Bob]

Iceland - oh it's mew! I've always enjoyed them. her voice is kinda boring without effects though. (7/10)
USA - alone in a bar with the lights down low listen to the tunes on the radio plays a familiar melody the song I hear is all I know listen till the end till it's time to go bringing back sweet memories some rain drops find their wandering way over the window glass outside the wind blows leaves into the air i guess I'd better have a cup of coffee and wonder how i'll ever make it home (6/10)
Fiji - I mean I know this is technically a song contest but how can you enter a song off of chocolate wheelchair lp that is not the one with the jungle book video (10/0)

[Parama]

mew actually has a male singer

[Plotinus]

first pass:

top tier (in no particular order)

iceland mew comforting sounds
uruguay woodkid the golden age
mali arthur beatrice who returned
gabon of monsters and men empire

second best (in no particular order):
italy the national fake empire
ecuador biffy ciyro know your quarry
qatar xylo america
scotland florence and the machine no light no light
belarus matthew good 99% of us is failure
greece rasputina a retinue of moons/the infidel is me
india estradasphere super buck ii
france metric cascades
singapore kimbra two way street
slovenia rissole the great rain beatle
portugal lana del rey born to die

not good enough to be in the top ten: everything else

[Bicephalous Bob]

mew actually has a male singer

yeah never mind, the misgendering was a joke based on a faulty premise.

[Plotinus]

This Rasputina song is too complex for me but it reminds me so much of my first girlfriend from half a life time ago that i'm probably going to give it some points anyway.

[Willowmeadow]

Okay I'm finally done with this. Holy hell, Greece was a big positive surprise. I'll have tough time picking my 12 between that and Iceland.

Nice to see some of my favourites (Rishloo, Algiers, XYLO, Mick Jenkins, Hop Along etc.) from the more recent previous contests as well, even though at least one of them (probably) won't be getting any points from me this time.

[Willowmeadow]

Top tier:

Iceland (Mew)
Greece (Rasputina)
St. Lucia (Melanie Martinez)

Second tier:

Spain (Algiers)
Uruguay (Woodkid)
Cote d'Ivoire (The Vincent Black Shadow)
Qatar (XYLO)
Mali (Arthur Beatrice)
Scotland (Florence and the Machine)
The Gambia (Rx Bandits)
Taiwan (Hop Along)
Singapore (Kimbra)
Kugelmugel (Mick Jenkins)
Western Sahara (Broken Social Science)

[Plotinus]

the lyrics to the hungarian song mean

I'll leave you when
Nobody is nervous,
When everything is quiet,
that's when I'll leave you.
When everything is opening,
for spring every person,
When everyone is happy,
that's when I'll leave you.

Sie* comes in vain, sie fears in vain,
however sie looks at it, sie lives alone,
sie looks at hirself from a tower,
that sie will disappear,
but sie isn't nervous.

When ever star is burning,
it's the darkest evening,
it's written on the wall,
that hir body got tired.
Hir arm got tired,
Hir handkerchief onto the ground,
Sie throws it and falls asleep,
that's the darkest evening.

We listen to the silence,
We suffocate in it,
Both of us know,
That this is already fucked.

Sie comes in vain, sie fears in vain,
however sie looks, sie lives alone,
sie looks at hirself from a tower,
that sie will disappear,
but sie isn't nervous.


*Hungarian doesn't have gendered pronouns.